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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Racer on September 3, 2007, at 19:32:43
I haven't been around much this past week, but I didn't see anything about your trip -- how did it go? Did you have a fabulous time?
I hope it was great, that you enjoyed yourself a great deal -- and that you maintained the Babble tradition of buying really fabulous shoes!
Posted by Deneb on September 4, 2007, at 2:21:50
In reply to Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by Racer on September 3, 2007, at 19:32:43
I'm back home! It's really late. I have to sleep, I'll write more tomorrow.
Posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 18:25:32
In reply to Re: Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by Deneb on September 4, 2007, at 2:21:50
OK, here's the story from beginning to end.
Departure morning
On the day of departure I probably got 2 hours of sleep or less. I was too excited to sleep. I kept checking and re-checking all the things I packed to make sure I had everything. I got up at 5:30 a.m. My parents woke up early too, my Dad drove me to the airport.Arrival at airport
When I first got to the airport I didn't know what to do. I asked someone working there about what I had to do to check in because I'd already checked in online. She was nice, she went to the automated check in stations and printed out my boarding pass for me.Baggage check
Then I got in line to check my luggage. This was the very first time I have checked luggage so I was kind of worried about my suitcase. I asked baggage check if I had to pick up my suitcase during my layover at Toronto. I found out yes, I had to pick it up.Security Checkpoint
At this point my Mom is still with me, next came security, but I didn't know that. My boarding pass told me which gate to go to. I walked around a while and found signs to my gate, but there didn't know I had to go through security first. So I asked someone and then I found out I had to go through security then. My Mom also gave me a raisin scone sometime at the airport. She was afraid I'd be hungry, even though I ate a small breakfast.Security was a bit scary and I felt a little violated. At this point I was still looking lost and confused and I think this sent up a red flag for the security people. First of all I put my stuff on the wrong conveyor belt. I put my stuff there and then someone told me to go through another walk through metal detector. Then my Mom tried to help me get my stuff back, but security held her back. A female security person ended up searching my body with a pat down and someone else tested my camera. Next time if this happens I'll definitely get the private search, out of the public area. Oh yes, about my scone, my scone went through security alright. LOL
So now I'm through security, feeling some anger and humiliation, but trying really hard to go through my CBT techniques, thinking it through. In the end I realized it was a good thing to get searched because this means they are vigilant with security and my flight will be safe.
At the gate
I find my gate and I sit down and wait. My flight was right on time. I boarded and felt a little scared. I didn't have any water to take my propranolol because my bottle of water got taken at security. I was OK though. I was a little nervous, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.The plane starts moving.
Now I get a little scared as a short movie showing the safety features of the plane showed. I think about crashing. So the plane goes very fast and I was expecting a steep ascent, but the ascent was smooth. I was surprised at how easily the plane flew. It was a smooth ride with very few and small motions. I'm not sure what I was expecting, perhaps an amusement park ride? LOL I dunno. The passengers got something to drink. I picked apple juice. The whole flight I was mesmerized by the landscape. My face was plastered to the window the whole time and I didn't get much anxiety because of my fascination. The flight to Toronto was short, just 45 min from boarding to exiting.At Toronto
I'm all by myself at this point, no Mom to help me. Could I do things alone? Yes I could! I waited for my luggage. This was a scary time for me because the whole time I'm waiting I'm thinking the airline lost my luggage and I'll be in D.C. with no clothes to wear! It took a while to get my luggage too, so I starting freaking out that I'll miss my connecting flight. So I get my luggage after a wait and then I had to go through Customs. Going through customs was easy.My boarding pass put in a question mark at the gate number spot, so I had to consult the departures screen to find my flight and gate number. I find out I had to take a shuttle to another part of the airport. I find my gate and see my flight number and destination so now I was relieved. I'd done it!
My plane to Baltimore was tiny. I don't know what kind of plane it was, but each row had four seats and we had to go outside and up a few steps to board the plane. I forgot to take a picture of the plane while boarding but I took one as I left the plane. I think the small planes fly lower because I was surprised that I was still able to see the roads and dots of cars even at cruising altitude. Again my face was plastered to the window LOL. On this flight we got cookies and something to drink. I got coffee.
Arrival in Baltimore!!
The plane touched down! I was in Baltimore! Wow, I flew the plane all by myself and I didn't get lost! I knew Llurpsie plane arrived before mine so after I got my baggage I gave Llurpsie a call. She was really close and came right away. I guess it's hard to miss a 4'11" Asian girl with a bright yellow bag. LOL I met Llurpsie! I couldn't believe it, but I had to ya know? It was sooo cool. I wasn't afraid to talk to Llurpsie. I love Llurpsie. I love Babblers. We waited for Jammer to arrive. Then Jammer arrives! The same Jammer I'd chatted with many times. I love Jammer. Llurpsie, Jammer and Thuso are great. They're caring, nice, friendly, funny and all sort of positive adjectives. LOL (((((Babblers))))))The trek to D.C.
Before the trip I'd figured out we had to take the train to a subway station, the subway, then either walk or bus a few blocks to our hotels. My hotel was only two blocks away from Jammer and Llurpsie's. Llurpsie and Jammer figured out that we had to take a shuttle to the train. Then we had to wait almost an hour for the train because we'd just missed ours. After the train we took the subway, then we took the bus to our hotels. Jammer and Llurpsie got off first so I was alone from their stop to the next stop. I found my hotel and room alright. It was a bit of a hassle getting to D.C., but bearable because I was with Llurpsie and Jammer!Lonely in my room
Now I was alone in my room. I unpacked some things and washed my face. That didn't take long. I wanted to see Jammer and Llurpsie, but didn't want to intrude. I tried to take a nap because I was really tired, but I was still too excited to sleep. I think I was alone for an hour? Not sure how long it was, but it seemed like a long time. I texted Jammer saying I was lonely with no Babble. I didn't want to seem needy, I hope I wasn't too needy. I'm OK being alone I guess, but I prefer to be with others.5 star hotel
I get invited to Jammer and Llurpsie's 5 star hotel. :-) They're nice. They have people opening doors for you! I felt like royalty. LOL I spent most of my time with Jammer and Llurpsie at their hotel for my stay. I think I was in there so much the staff must have though I stayed there. 5 star hotels are nice. You can stay in your jammies while people bring you room service, for a price of course LOL. This was my first stay in a 5 star hotel. That first night we ordered dinner as room service. Jammer took a picture of our service table. Our dinners where pretty. Llurpsie and I had a really nice raw tuna sandwich and Jammer had a really good truffle penne. I tried some, it was really good! I've never had truffle before. I'm definitely trying some again. We were beat from the long day and I needed sleep so we turned in early that first night.First night
That first night was annoying. The room had this clock radio alarm, but I couldn't figure out how to use it. I tried setting the alarm but I couldn't do it. I'm don't know if I just couldn't figure it out or there was something wrong with it. In the middle of the night the alarm went off! I couldn't shut the thing off. I finally pressed some button and the thing shut up, but then it went on again after an hour or two! Now, I'm pretty sure I didn't press the snooze button too. I got the thing to shut-up again, but it went on again! So this stupid alarm clock woke me up 3 times in the middle of the night! I finally got smart about it and just unplugged the thing. I'm pretty sure I didn't get enough sleep that night.Saturday
At about 9(?)a.m. Llurpsie woke me up with a call to my cell phone. I must have sounded pretty out of it because she noticed I had been woken up. LOL I said, "hello" in a semi dazed, croaky voice. It's good that she woke me up because even though I set my alarm clock (I bought a mini alarm clock that actually worked) for 9:30 a.m., I'm not sure if I would have slept through it.I had breakfast at my hotel. They provide a free continental breakfast. I had a bagel with cream cheese, a waffle with syrup and two cups of coffee. Their coffee was really bad! LOL
Next I went to Jammer and Llurpsie's hotel. We hung out, it was fun. Then we left for the National Mall. We walked around the National Mall and saw the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial, We were also going to meet Thuso at the Holocaust Museum. Thuso is great. You can't tell from from Thuso's writings, but Thuso is a wild one. LOL Late that night at the hotel she brought out everyone's mischievous side. We wrote some crazy stuff on Babble.
With the timed tickets Jammer was kind enough to get us ahead of time, we walked in the Holocaust Museum exhibit no problem at 1:30 p.m. The Holocaust Museum was a moving experience. Everything was presented in good taste. My eyes teared up for some parts, but it didn't leave me bawling as I had feared it would.
After the museum we were starved. We didn't have lunch. Thuso brought us to Chinatown, or Chinablock as she likes to call it. We had dinner at a Mongolian place. It was my first Mongolian experience. It wasn't "real" Mongolian food though. I've heard real Mongolian food is quite interesting. It was one of those choose your food and we'll cook it for you type places. They didn't have much of a selection. I choose some noodles, pineapples, a few green onions, something else (I forget) and some beef. Then they put in some sauces and cook it for you on their griddle. The food was OK, it wasn't bad, but I wasn't anything special. While I was eating I got tremors. I took a propranolol for them. Babblers are great though, they won't think I'm a freak or anything if I tremble.
We went back to Jammer's Hotel after dinner. Thuso came with us. We hung out for a bit. We didn't want to seem boring to Thuso so I said we should have desert. After lazying around, we finally found the momentum to get up. We walked around and saw some people eating ice cream. We just kept walking until we found two ice cream places. It's a babble tradition to have ice cream so we did. It was yummy.
After ice cream we had fun on Babble. We laughed a lot. It was really great being with Babblers face to face. We didn't sleep until late.
Sunday
Housekeeping didn't replug my alarm clock so I wasn't woken up multiple times during the night. I had a much better night's sleep. I'm really glad I bought my mini battery powered alarm clock. I don't quite remember what I had for breakfast, I think I had a bagel with cream cheese and a yogurt, and coffee, let's not forget the coffee! I really need that caffeine in the mornings LOL. I usually wake up at noon.On Sun. we went to the National Zoo. It's really nice that nearly all the museums and the Zoo are free in D.C. I saw panda bears for the first time! The baby panda was eating this giant apple and it was sooooo cute. I took lots of pictures. My favourite animal was the baby panda. Llurpsie said her favourite was the lion. The lion was really cool too. I took a mini movie of the lion on my camera. We also saw some seals, Jammer likes marine mammals. We stayed at the zoo for a few hours. Llurpsie and I also shared a bucket of popcorn, the smell of it was permeating the place and our cravings got the best of us.
We decided to take a taxi back to Jammer's hotel. Poor Jammer, her feet had blisters. I hung out with Jammer and Llurpsie at their hotel for a while and then we went to this Ethiopian restaurant across the street from us. It was our first Ethiopian experience and it was good. You order the food and they bring it to you on this giant dish lined with their spongy Ethiopian bread. We get some rolled up spongy flat bread to eat with. You rip up the bread and use it to scoop up the food. My favorite was the shrimp. We should take Dr. Bob there LOL. I want to share food with Dr. Bob. ((((Dr. Bob))))
Later that night we had desert as room service. I had cheesecake with strawberry sauce. I took pictures of our deserts. Jammer tried a desert we'd never heard of.
Monday
Monday for breakfast I had a bagel with cream cheese, a yogurt and some fruit. Oh I also had 3 cups of coffee. I went over to Jammer's hotel and hung out. We went shopping. I bought some stickers, an ink pad and a rubber stamp at this paper store. We also went to a clothing store. Llurpsie, Jammer and I bought some pretty notebooks on sale. I'm going to use them for my organic chem class. We also looked in a shoe store and a facial care/cosmetic store. We didn't buy any shoes. Llurpsie and Jammer bought some stuff in the facial care store.After shopping we went back to the hotel. Llurpsie took a 15 min power nap. I tried to nap, but didn't. We decided to take a taxi to the airport, none of us felt like taking the bus, the train and then the shuttle to the airport.
At the airport we ate something at this bistro. This is where we got the worse service ever. LOL It was really bad. The table behind us didn't get any silverware with their food and they never did get their silverware, the table across from them ended up giving them theirs. One guy got seated and left the place from lack of service. It took forever to get someone to take our order, it wasn't even our server who took our order. This was all very stressful because Jammer had to catch her flight. There was a very long line up through security. Fortunately Jammer just made her flight by the skin of her teeth. We said goodbye to Jammer in the bistro.
Then I check in and worry about my luggage again and then say goodbye to Llurpsie. It's nice knowing we will meet again in May.
The flight back home was uneventful. I bought a pair of sunglasses for $10 at the duty free store.
That night I went to bed at 3:30 a.m. (my flight landed at 12:50 a.m.) I ended up sleeping until 5 p.m. I woke up, then went back to bed at 6 and slept until 8, when my sister came home. (My sister came home for the holiday, she's staying for a few more days). On Tues night I went to bed at midnight and slept until 11 a.m. Going on a trip sure is tiring!
I loved meeting Babblers. This was the funnest (is that a word? LOL) trip ever, more fun than Disneyland when I was 12. I can't wait to do this again!
Posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 18:26:51
In reply to Re: Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 18:25:32
Posted by 10derheart on September 5, 2007, at 18:48:41
In reply to Re: Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 18:25:32
Posted by thuso on September 5, 2007, at 18:51:19
In reply to Re: Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 18:25:32
> Thuso is great. You can't tell from from Thuso's writings, but Thuso is a wild one. LOL Late that night at the hotel she brought out everyone's mischievous side. We wrote some crazy stuff on Babble.
>You just blew my cover!!! I'm trying to be the quiet, unassuming person here on babble and you go and tell everyone how wild I am. What am I supposed to do now? I'll be expected to be my crazy self. Argh! ;-)
But I do have to say that I had fun that night. I don't often get to act like myself around here. DC is full of boring people who don't know how to have a good time. Now just wait until May and I'll unleash my true self. You've been warned!
Posted by 10derheart on September 5, 2007, at 19:59:45
In reply to fabulous! I'm thrilled for you it went so well!! (nm) » Deneb, posted by 10derheart on September 5, 2007, at 18:48:41
I ALWAYS knew you could do it...even when you had doubts :-)
Now with this big step, you can travel anywhere, I think, and your parents (hopefully) will feel better about it, AND more chance of seeing Dr. Bob again, too!
Posted by muffled on September 5, 2007, at 21:54:51
In reply to oh, and, p. s. » 10derheart, posted by 10derheart on September 5, 2007, at 19:59:45
You really are a wonder.
Its been SO wonderful for me to see how much better you are doing.
Your AMAZING!
Go Girl!!!
:-)
M
Posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 23:30:57
In reply to Re: Deneb? How was your trip?, posted by thuso on September 5, 2007, at 18:51:19
LOL Thuso
I can't wait for May. We'll party it up all night long won't we? LOL Maybe Dr. Bob can come with us. LOL
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 23:34:42
In reply to oh, and, p. s. » 10derheart, posted by 10derheart on September 5, 2007, at 19:59:45
Yep. I have fly all by myself! :-)
I didn't get lost! Woohoo! And if I get lost I just ask others where to go.
I'm going to D.C. again in May. I'm going to see Dr. Bob and Babblers!
Deneb*
Posted by Deneb on September 5, 2007, at 23:35:36
In reply to Thanks for that Deneb, posted by muffled on September 5, 2007, at 21:54:51
Thanks Muffled! Woohoo! :-) I'm glad I'm doing well too.
Deneb*
This is the end of the thread.
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